I’ve been working from home during the time of the Covid-19 pandemic. Because of my age and underlying health issues, I’m in a high-risk group, and luckily, we’ve figured out a way to host “The Ron Stutts Show” from my home here in Chapel Hill. My wife, Beverly has been working from home even longer than I have. She expects to continue here for several months more, at least through the summer. After all, she works for UL, and they’re all about safety! She has adjusted her work time so that she completes some of her work after I have gone to bed and then sleeps in a bit later, for most of the time I am on the air. This way we can stay out of each other’s way for much of our work days and it also gives each of us some ‘alone time.’ Needless to say, we’ve been seeing more of each other than we would sometimes prefer (LOL!) but we consider ourselves fortunate to be able to stay safe and healthy. She has asthma so we are so thankful that we can both be at home, isolated and safe.
We’ve been doing lots of virtual get-together with our kids, via Zoom and FaceTime, and, of course, regular old-fashioned phone calls! Our son is in Boone and our daughter lives in Wilmington, so thank goodness for technology! We’ve had lots of grocery deliveries and a few meals from local restaurants, but we’ve done more cooking in the last 3 months than we usually do in 3 years! Love those local restaurants! I go as far as the mailbox at the end of our driveway, or maybe yell across the fence to our neighbors, and that’s about the extent of my social life right now!
I still get up at the same time each weekday, except now I’m stumbling into the kitchen instead of driving to our broadcast studios at University Place. I really appreciate our staff members at 97.9 The Hill and Chapelboro.com for the work they’re doing so I can be here. Like so many others, I listen to WCHL and check our 24/7 digital newspaper several times a day to stay informed. I’m blown away by the amazing amount of information my co-workers are able to put out there every single day. Honestly, we have some great, hard-working folks who work diligently to keep this community informed! Normally, my only in-person companion on my show from 6 to 10 AM is Frank. He’s our cat! Even he strolls into the room only occasionally, when he wants to be fed, or just decides to say hello. One time, Frank meowed very loudly when I was in the middle of reading a local news story. I hope you didn’t hear that! Once in a while, he stops by to see if he can help me choose the next song to play! By the way, he absolutely loves having us home all the time!
That’s what life is like for me right now. I love being able to do the morning show from my house, and feel a strong responsibility to do my part to keep our community of listeners informed-especially now, during this difficult time. My goal is to get everyone’s day off to a good start, and maybe help make the day a little brighter. Hopefully, we can all get through this experience and I’ll be able to see everybody soon. I miss you guys! Frank says to take care of yourself!
– Ron Stutts (And Frank!)
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